LICENSE A VIDEO GAME
The gaming industry is now bigger than the film industry and demographics are getting broader and broader. It’s not surprising then that more and more creatives are wanting to work with video game IP.
Whether you’re looking to license a retro game from your childhood or a character from the latest hit game, incorporating IP from a popular video game can be a great tool for impactful messaging to a specific audience.
CONSIDERATIONS:
Some of the smaller games studios have less experience in licensing their IP out for advertising and so may need more encouragement/educating.
Be flexible with your creative. We can provide you with a range of options if your first choice of video game is unavailable to license.
Stay on brand with the creative. Video game Rights Holders will want to make sure the creative is authentic to the game.
CASE STUDY #1:
AA x Street Fighter
The AA is the UK’s leading driving services business. They launched their ‘It’s OK I’m with The AA’ platform by The Gate Worldwide in July 2023. For the next phase, they extended the campaign in an unexpected way, partnering with the Street Fighter™ video game franchise. The campaign cleverly taps into popular culture appealing directly to The AA’s target demographic who have such nostalgia for the game. Street Fighter is one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time, selling over 50 million units since it originally launched in 1987. The campaign launched at the end of July, with DOOH and social media assets being distributed in major cities across the UK at high-impact full-motion sites, and across social media platforms. The campaign consists of large-scale animated executions featuring characters Ken and Ryu from Street Fighter destroying an unlucky civilian’s car with their signature martial arts moves. However, thanks to the AA, the innocent bystander doesn’t seem too concerned about his vehicle. Born Licensing managed the licensing process from start to finish allowing the agency and client to focus on their roles.
CASE STUDY #2:
Samsung x Candy Crush
Samsung Electronics launched a campaign to promote their new Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. The campaign needed to feature instantly recognisable apps on the tablet to engage a modern, mobile-first audience.
Samsung’s creative agency, Iris Worldwide, got in touch with Born Licensing to ask us to find suitable gameplay footage for the spot. The gameplay needed to be instantly recognisable, popular, and easily playable on a tablet device. After exploring several options, we landed on the hit game Candy Crush Saga. We managed the clearance process from start to finish to allow the agency and client to focus on their role
CASE STUDY #3:
KFC x Tekken 7 + Trackmania
KFC and their creative agency, BHH London, recognised a growing trend in social conversations centering around the decline in split-screen gaming. The general theme of the conversations, which had increased 500% between 2015 and 2018, was that the evolving nature of video games had lost its nostalgic core: split-screen gaming with friends had been replaced by online play, meaning gaming had become more insular and less about social company. BHH London had also noticed organic conversations touching on the same topic within KFC’s online community, presenting the perfect opportunity for a brand-led live e-sports event to unite the gaming community.
KFC recruited four top YouTube gamers and four grime stars to battle it out in their e-sports event, which was live-streamed on Facebook Live and Twitch, with the chance to win a lifetime supply of KFC chicken. With the event aimed at true gaming fans, the choice of video game was crucially important to the success of the event - and that’s where Born Licensing stepped in. BHH London and KFC asked us to shortlist a selection of multiplayer games that were fun to play. After negotiations, we secured the rights for KFC to feature the hit games Tekken 7 and TrackMania Turbo in their live gaming event, as well as working with Sony to secure PlayStation consoles to be used. With vast experience and expertise in licensing, we handled the contractual process to make it as smooth and speedy as possible for all involved.
CASE STUDY #4:
Google Pixel x League of Legends
Vi from League of Legends was chosen as the perfect character for the campaign due to the game’s popularity and Vi’s famous gauntlets that are great for punching through walls - but not ideal for picking up mobile phones!
To celebrate the launch of Google Pixel 7, Anomaly Berlin developed a range of films that show a variety of hobbies, trends, passions, activities that are dear to Germans, including cosplay. With our expertise in licensing, we handled the contractual process to make it as smooth and speedy as possible for all involved, including the Rights Holder, Anomaly Berlin and Google Pixel.